


Avatar Fight Club

by Zeible



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Action, Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, Fights, Gen, M/M, Multi, On Hiatus, Versus Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-24 11:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9720812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeible/pseuds/Zeible
Summary: Ever wanted to see Toph fight Bumi for real? Sokka vs. Asami? Iroh vs. Sozin? Korra vs. the Cabbage Merchant? Well this is the fic for you- it's an action (with some actual justification for the fights, mind) oriented exploration of the fights that never were, as well as allowing for characters who never met in canon to interact.





	1. Toph vs. Azula

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Zeible here- first time writing for this fandom, and this is an idea I've had in my head for a while. While it might seem a bit Action-heavy, the series does have character bits in it, and some shipping fun- as well as goofy hi-jinks and what-ifs about meet ups that never happened.

The air in the forest was thick with smoke, and probably would’ve been blinding for Toph if she used her _eyes_ to see.

 

It was pretty frightening, though- she could feel fire, of course, but it was a hard thing to spot, given that it wasn’t Earth, and unlike Air or Water, would _hurt_ if it hit her. She took a moment to get her bearings- thankfully she could see where trees where, by analyzing where their roots disrupted the Earth beneath.

 

She was probably best served by going underground, given that the air down there wouldn’t be as smoke filled, and was about to do so when she felt a jet of flame make its way right towards her- she was barely able to raise up a wall of soil to block it in time, and was blasted when the Fire boiled the moisture in the soil.

 

“Hm, not as helpless as you’d think.” A voice- a certain very, very, _very_ creepy and _smug_ voice said in a quiet voice. Toph recognized that voice.

 

“Azula- you do realize I can hear you, right?!” How the Firebender had sneaked up on her, she didn’t know. Maybe she could fly, like Aang. Toph dismissed the thought- it wouldn’t really make a lot of sense for a Firebender to be able to do that, after all.

 

“Oh, I know.” the creepy Princess said back, casually. She was walking towards Toph slowly and carefully- Toph took the opportunity to encase herself in damp soil, that covered everything except her mouth and nose.

 

“You wanna get stomped?” Toph asked, too angry with this spoiled, evil, manipulative jerk to engage in her usual banter.

 

Azula laughed, super smugly. “I want to see you try, maybe- no sorry, that was unbecoming of me.” She started moving like a Waterbender- Toph saw this before, when she’d used lightning to strike Iroh.

 

“No way!” Toph shouted, opening up a hole and bringing herself underground- without the time to make a good tunnel, she didn’t have a lot of air, but she didn’t need it.

 

She heard Azula scream something and a crack of lightning harmlessly striking the dirt now long behind her, as she raced to position herself under Azula.

 

As she approached, though, she realized it was seriously heating up down there- and, to her horror, realized that Azula was heating up the soil with her Fire, and that she was going to be cooked alive if she stayed down here.

 

With nothing else to do, Toph opened up a hole further away from the target of Azula’s fire, and burst out, and quickly shot a blast of mud at Azula.

 

She managed to hit her target, and send her flying into a nearby tree- but that was hardly going to take down someone as stubborn as Azula, who quickly got back to her feet and countered with a barrage of fire.

 

Toph dodged or blocked each volley with dirt, and started backing away from Azula- who, unlike Toph, was reliant on sight to find her opponent.

 

“Coward!” Azula shrieked. “Come back here and face me- or I’ll burn this wretched forest to the ground!”

 

Toph cocked her head. “Why?”

 

She could sense Azula take up a more relaxed posture. “Because a loyal citizen of the Earth King wouldn’t allow his forests to burn to the ground- especially not one with a reputation to consider, one like yours- Toph Bei Fong.”

 

Toph cackled, as she began circling Azula and summoning the small stones scattered around the forest to her. She began flinging them at Azula- managing to graze her even as she ducked and wove through the barrage.

 

“Oh no!” She shouted, barely able to get the words out through her laughter. “Please, not my reputation! It means so much to me!”

 

The Fire Princess’s posture tensed again, and Toph realized her mistake- Azula wasn’t trying to draw her out, but locate her, and she’d played right into her hands.

 

She wove through the trees in a serpentine manner, as Azula fired a continuous blast of Fire at her- she could hear it roar through the trees, and to her horror and shock, also could sense the trees it stuck falling to the ground, meaning Azula was capable of searing right through them. This must’ve been some kind of Royal Family technique, like her lightning.

 

Toph accelerated as much as possible, wincing at the sound of trees felling and feeling herself sweat both from the increasing heat of the spreading flames and from the realization that she might be burned to a crisp.

 

But then, something occurred to her- someone like Azula liked winning more than she liked style, no matter how arrogant she was. This wasn’t some kind of hidden power, but an act of desperation- and one that was probably draining the Firebender’s reserves of Chi really quickly.

 

She grinned- the mighty Fire Princess was losing her cool, and the Blind Bandit knew how to exploit those kinds of openings.

 

Pulling back from Azula for a bit, Toph took a quick search and found that she was on the edge of the forest, near the rockier soil of the mountains they were on, and a big puddle leftover from a recent rainstorm.

 

After a moment’s thought, she summoned a swarm of small stones, like the one she’d made earlier, but this time, instead of flinging them at Azula, fused them together in front of her into a solid wall of stone, half a meter thick. With it in front of her, Toph reinforced her armor of dirt with some soaking wet mud from the nearby pond, as a precaution.

 

She felt Azula near her again- though like before, she had been unable to detect her approach. Maybe she really could fly, and was trying to hide it from her.

 

“Surrender,” Azula spat, “And I’ll be _merciful_ ” She couldn’t see it, but Toph was pretty sure Azula grinned when she said that last word.

 

She ignored her, and refused to be goaded like before- Azula couldn’t necessarily see her, given that her stone wall would blend into the mountains behind her.

 

“Fine then- be destroyed!” Azula took up the relaxed posture again, and shot another jolt of lightning at Toph-

 

-Or would have, had a tiny stone not slammed into her upper arm at that moment, sending the bolt way off course and making Azula scream in pain. Toph might’ve broken her arm- but that didn’t mean Azula wasn’t still dangerous.

 

“Why you little-” Whatever Azula said was drowned out by the roar of flames- and Toph seized this chance, sending the stone wall flying towards Azula.

 

She could feel it start to melt and soften, becoming more indistinct as Azula’s superheated fire turned it from stone to lava- but the heat wouldn’t reduce its momentum, and, probably realizing what was going on, Azula screamed, right before it collided with her and-

  


Everything stopped- the scream melted away, all the summoned bending material turned to dust, their injuries and the dirt on their clothes disappeared, and the world around them shifted back into an Earthen Arena- and Toph could hear the roaring applause and cheers of the crowd around them. Both she and Azula had reverted to their true bodies- no longer the impetuous teenager and the murderous princess, they were once again the Republic City Chief of Police, and the broken woman that had, however briefly, been the Fire Lord.

 

Soaking it all in, she thrust her fists into the air and grinned, while the chant of ‘Blind Bandit’ grew louder and louder.

 

It was interrupted by a deafening shout. “ **_SILENCE!_ ** ”

 

Toph swallowed, knowing what was coming up next.

 

Walking towards her was a woman or at least, someone that she knew LOOKED like a woman, but was really a spirit-woman-thing, with an impressive physique who moved like someone with total control of every situation she was in- kind of like what Azula _thought_ she was.

 

“Toph Bei Fong,” the spirit said to her, in a gentler but still stony tone, “You have violated the laws of this Arena.”

 

“But Mistress Kurigu-” she began to plead, even though she knew she had broken the rules.

 

“-She broke them first?” Kurigu said, cocking her head.

 

Toph shrinked back, realizing her mistake. “Well...yeah.” It was a weak response, but it was hard to be strong in front of someone like Kurigu, who Toph knew could break her like a twig if she wanted to.

 

“That’s no excuse, and you know it- what’s worse, had you followed the rules, and not stooped to your opponent’s level by using lethal force, you would’ve won _anyway_.”

 

She bit back her words, knowing that the Spirit of Conflict was right, and that any defense of herself would only make things worse.

 

“Yes ma’am, you’re right,” Chief Bei Fong said, “It won’t happen again.”

 

“I know it won’t,” said Kurigu, “Because you’re not coming back into the ring.”

 

Toph’s jaw dropped. “What?!” She had never broken the rules before- and this was only her third match, why was she being banned entirely for one little slip-up?

 

“Not as a fighter, anyway.” Kurigu said, turning her back. “Sokka is leaving for a month- we need a new referee. If you do well enough, I may consider allowing you to try again.”

 

She didn’t know what to say- it seemed like Kurigu’s way of punishing her, by forcing her to get up close to the fights and take in all that she was missing.

 

“Thank you, Mistress Kurigu.” Was all she said.

 

“You’re welcome, Chief Bei Fong.” The Spirit said, walking off.

 

The awkward confrontation now over, the crowd began murmuring, before dissipating- Toph realized that Azula was still there, hunched over and glowering.

 

The Chief walked over, and stretched out a hand. “I’m sorry, Azula, I wasn’t thinking.”

 

The other woman was quiet for a while, before saying. “Neither was I, Bei Fong- I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s alright,” the Chief said, a bit surprised that Azula would apologize, “You really have changed a lot in the time since we’d last seen each other.”

 

“So have you,” Azula said- moving her head up and down. Toph couldn’t really tell what she was doing, but found it a bit unnerving. “In more ways than one.”

 

“Oooookay,” a voice cut in- one that Toph was very familiar with, “I think it’s time you two ladies cooled off.”

 

“Sokka!” Toph said, running over to him and hugging him.

 

“Hey, Toph!.” Sokka said warmly, “What’s going on, what happened?”

 

Her smile faded. “Nothing too good- I think I’d rather talk about it after I’ve gotten something to drink.”

 

Sokka nodded. “Alright,” he looked over at Azula, “You coming with, or not?”

 

She let out a sigh. “Fine, but you’re paying.”

 

“ _I’m_ buying,” Toph said, “With how much I’m gonna get, it’d be unfair to Sokka.”

 

With that, the three of them walked out of the Arena, and Toph went over how best to explain what happened.

  
She really wasn’t looking forward to the next month.


	2. Korra's Welcome/Piandao vs. the Lieutenant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra is brought into the Spirit World to get a taste of Kurigu's unique sparring Arena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot longer than the last chapter- and this one is way more character focused, so it can feel a little slow.

Korra had been enjoying the time alone- sure, she had missed Asami, and sure, she’d been furious at first that, after all they’d been through, their vacation to the Spirit World had been cut short because of that thing a few months back, and sure, she was really, really REALLY missing her girlfriend right now-

 

Okay so she really  _ wasn’t  _ enjoying her time alone, like, at all. She’d been by herself at Asami’s house- well not  _ alone  _ but Asami’s staff weren’t the company she had in mind. Everyone she knew and loved was busy- Tenzin was out with the Air Nomads, investigating ways to recolonize the Air Temples, her mom was off with Katara on some spiritual retreat at the South Pole, her father was with her cousins trying to negotiate some trade deal between the poles, and Bolin was off with Opal and the other Bei Fongs in Zaofu, helping to rebuild.

 

Well, that did leave Mako, but he was with...Wu. They were still in the city, of course- Wu wasn’t the Prince anymore, but he was still a pretty important symbol of Earth Kingdom stability, so he was “helping” with the negotiations between the different leaders.

 

She got the feeling that Mako was going to be pretty busy with protecting him from all the old Earth Kingdom officials, who probably wanted him dead or worse, if only to rid themselves of his annoyingness.

 

Korra let out a groan, and theatrically flopped over on one of Asami’s plush couches. She had this whole estate to herself, basically, and she chose to spend most of her time in this cramped little study filled with books and a desk covered in papers. 

 

She liked it better than the other rooms- it was the next best thing to spending time with Asami. 

 

There was a knock on the door. “Miss Korra?” A woman’s voice called.

 

“Yes?” Korra said, not sounding enthusiastic- probably one of the servants coming to offer to make her some fancy Ember Island dish or something like that.

 

“There’s a message for you from Miss Sato.”

 

She lept to her feet, grinning like an idiot and ran right up to the door- almost knocking over Asami’s work desk in the process.

 

She opened the door- it was Jin, one of Asami’s valets. In her hand was a small envelope with her name on it and one Korra didn’t recognize- ‘Kurigu’.

“There was no address,” Jin said, handing Korra the letter. “It just showed up on the front steps one day.”

 

Korra cautiously took it, and gently pulled the letter out. When she read it, she was even more confused. “Did you see who dropped this off?”

 

Jin shook her head. “We think it might’ve been a Spirit- they’ve been up to a lot of unusual stuff lately.”

 

Korra nodded- that made sense, given where the sender had asked her to go. “Alright- I’m going to go off to find out who sent me this- I might be gone for a while.”

 

Jin smiled, and bowed. “Understood, Miss Korra.”

  
  


It was always disconcerting to walk up to the Spirit Portal- sure, the gateway to the Spirit World was itself beautiful, but the Spirit Vines in the crater around it were bitter reminder of all that had been destroyed when Kuvira attacked with her Colossus. That, combined with the nonsense that had happened just a few months ago, had sourced the positive memories she had of walking up to the portal hand-in-hand with Asami.

 

The multicoloured column pulsed and shot into the sky as it always did, and Korra, feeling a slight sense of trepidation, made her way through the vine-covered crater towards it, and hoisted herself up onto the platform in the center. 

 

Letting out a breath, Korra walked right into the column of light, and felt herself being swept up once again, mind, body, and spirit, into the other world.

 

Unlike her other visits, Korra didn’t find herself in the open expanse of the Spirit World- weirdly, she found herself in a place that looked a lot like the Inner Ring of Ba Sing Se, except filled with Spirits and the few humans that were here didn’t look like the rich types that lived in Ba Sing Se’s richest district.

 

The sky was a vivid green, and the buildings were all made of a rich, green clay. In front of her was a building that looked a lot like the world famous Jasmine Dragon- the shop Fire Lord Izumi’s great uncle, the original General Iroh, had built. 

 

Not quite sure what else to do, Korra made her way up the steps to the tea shop, passing by a pretty big crowd of spirits going in and out- she wondered if they drank tea, or if this was something else.

 

When she reached the front door she saw that inside, it did indeed look like the Jasmine Dragon- she’d only been there once, but this was it, except maybe a little more well-furnished.

“Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon!” A deep, familiar voice called out.

 

“Iroh?!” Korra shouted- recognizing that voice and smiling broadly. There he was- looking as he had when she last saw him, wearing an unassuming uniform and pouring tea for a human patron and their companion- a spirit that looked like a spider-croc, except maybe a little less cuddly.

 

“Yes yes, it’s me- who else would be running  _ my  _ tea shop?” His tone was mock-annoyed, but he was grinning like a fool.

 

She made her way inside, trying not to bump into any of the other customers- many of whom made that pretty difficult by being absolutely huge, but it was no big deal.

 

Taking a stool, Korra leaned over the bar. “What are you doing here?”

 

The old man laughed uproariously, and the human and their friend joined in- the spider-croc making a sound sort of like two slabs of wood being ground together. 

 

“Serving tea, of course!” He wiped a tear from his eye. He then cleared his throat, and, whisperering, added  “I am also helping you make your way to Kurigu’s place.”

 

Korra furrowed her brow. “Why are you whispering- is this ‘Kurigu’ unpopular or something?”

 

Iroh looked around the room, and stroked his beard for a moment. “I wouldn’t say she’s exactly  _ unpopular _ , more like, unpersonable.”

 

“Unpersonable?” Korra asked, suspicious.

 

“Mm, yes- not really the sociable type, you know?”

 

“Fine,” Korra said, waving a hand dismissively, “What does she want with me?”

“Oh, nothing bad, I assure you,” Iroh said, smiling reassuringly, “Just a bit of sparring.”

 

“Sparring? Does she want to fight me?”

 

Iroh chuckled. “No, and you better hope she never does!”

 

He cleared his throat again. “What she wants is for you to fight some other people- just friendly bouts with some skilled fighters, that’s all”

 

“Alright,” Korra said, shrugging, “That sounds like it could be fun, I guess.” She was a bit underwhelmed that she’d been invited to the Spirit World just to fight some people- sure, she  _ liked  _ fighting, but she’d had more than her fill of it over the past couple months, and her experience with professional sparring matches had never gone well.

 

“I think you’ll have a blast!” Iroh said, grinning. “Trust me- it’s more exciting than I make it sound.”

 

She cocked her head. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

 

The old man threw up his hands, defensively. “Nothing important- I think it’s better you see exactly what Kurigu has in mind for yourself, is all.”

 

“Okay,” Korra said, nodding, “How do I get there?”

 

“It’s not far,” Iroh said, pointing to a door in the back of the room, “Just go through there and go all the way down the steps- and don’t stop until you’re ALL the way down.”

 

She looked at the door- it was a pretty small, unassuming one, but when she looked closely on it, she saw it said  _ RESERVATIONS ONLY _ .

 

“You have a sparring room in the back of your tea shop?” 

 

“Just go,” Iroh said, waving his hand, “Trust me- you’ll have fun!”

 

Korra sighed, and got up, “Alright- take care Iroh.” She made her way to the door- Iroh waving at her before getting back to his conversation with the human and the spider-croc.

 

Opening it up, Korra found there was a massive staircase going so far down she couldn’t see the bottom- it was lit by an array of wall sconces that burned with a dark green light. She shuddered, remembering the similar lights employed by the Dai Li, in their “Training Facility” for Airbenders.

 

When she took her first step, the door immediately slammed shut behind her- panicking, Korra tried to turn the knob. To her relief, it wasn’t locked, just closed- probably a precaution against someone else entering behind her. 

 

Taking a deep breath, the Avatar calmed herself and walked down the steps. Along the way, she found the stairs reached a few landings, each with a door on them- there was a temptation to open them up and see what was inside, but Iroh had been pretty specific about going to the very bottom.

 

After what felt like an hour of walking, passing by seemingly endless doors and stairs, Korra finally reached the door at the very bottom- an impressive, door made of black iron- on it was written  _ KURIGU’S DEN _ , and under that was written  _ INVITEES ONLY- TRESPASSERS WILL BE PUNISHED _ .

 

She swallowed- wondering what kind of Spirit Kurigu was, that Iroh was on good terms with her, yet she could be so terrifying. Though she no longer had the past Avatar’s memories, she was pretty sure that none of them had encountered anyone or anything named ‘Kurigu’.

 

Korra shook those thoughts off, knowing she was just letting her anxiety get to her. She opened the door, and stepped inside.

 

Her jaw dropped when she walked in- in the room, there was a massive atrium, with a fine wooden floor painted black and covered in intricate red patterns in a script she didn’t recognize, and the walls, which went up at least 50 meters, where all fully paneled and from them hung hundreds of tapestries that bore symbols and names in languages both familiar and unknown to her.

 

It was lit by some weird floating spheres that gave off a warm, amber light, and the space was a pleasant enough temperature. The massive space was filled with people and spirits, too- the latter of all shapes and sizes, and the former looking to be from all over the world- plenty of people in Water Tribe clothes, traditional Omashu garb, some Sandbenders, and others. . 

 

Weirdly, she saw some people in what looked like the old Air Nomad robes- they weren’t really known for their interest in the martial arts, and more than that, Tenzin probably would’ve thrown a fit at any of the Nomads running off to the Spirit World for something like this, when there were still so few of them.

 

More shockingly, she saw some people in Earth Empire armor, Equalist masks, and even some centuries-old Fire Nation uniforms. That would’ve been scary, but these people had barely noticed her presence- only looking up when the door opened and returning to their conversations when she closed it again.

 

“Korra,” a warm, low voice said behind her, “Don’t be alarmed.”

 

She turned around- and beamed when she saw who it was. “Raava?” She reached down, to feel her stomach, “But, shouldn’t you be, you know, me? Or, in me..?” She admittedly had never considered the possibility that, seeing as Raava was technically different from her, it was possible that she was always capable of this sort of thing.

 

Raava laughed- a sound Korra had never heard before, but found incredibly soothing. “I am always with you, but that does not mean that you and I are unable to interact.”

 

Soothingly, the Spirit of Light placed one of her glowing appendages on Korra’s shoulder. “This place is a nexus in the Spirit World- a place where time and space lose meaning. It is a realm older even than me, that was formed when this world came into existence.”

 

The Avatar cocked her head. “Older than  _ you _ ? And this Kurigu is using it to host martial arts tournaments?!”

 

“I understand your incredulity, Korra,” Raava replied, reassuringly, “But Kurigu is a being of an exceptional nature- she is not of this world, nor of the realm of humans.”

 

“Then what is she- where is she from?”

 

“I don’t know, Korra,” Raava said, “I know only that she is a Spirit of great power- an embodiment of Conflict.”

 

“Conflict?!” Korra was panicking again, the fear rising in her chest. “But...then she’s like Vaatu?”

 

“No, I’m not.” Another voice said- and Korra turned around, to see a tall, pale-skinned woman with jet-black hair, dressed in a snazzy-looking suit, and walking towards her and Raava with purpose. The crowd that was in the room parted at her approach- though it didn’t seem to disrupt the conversations that were going on.

 

“Kurigu?” Korra asked, still nervous.

 

“Yes,” the woman said, “And this is my Arena. I invited you for a reason, Korra- we have much to gain from cooperation.” She spoke in an odd tone- sort of mechanical, and it reminded Korra a bit of a woman she’d met in Zaofu- someone Suyin had called a “Savant”.

 

“Cooperation? But you’re a Spirit of Conflict?” Things were just getting more and more confusing here.

 

“Walk with me- Raava can come along too, if you like.” Kurigu extended her hand to Korra. “I’ll show you around, explain what we do here.”

 

“Fine,” Korra said, “As long as Raava comes along.” It was silly- Raava was with her anyway, but the Spirit’s presence gave her a feeling of comfort, and love- it helped to counter the uneasiness she was feeling being around this weird spirit.

 

Kurigu led the two of them through the complex- ‘Kurigu’s Den’, as the sign up front said. There were, in addition to the atrium, more rooms than Korra could count- the ones that stood out to her were an impressive training room, a couple restrooms, three separate bathhouses, a really fancy-looking restaurant, and, most impressive of all, the arena she’d mentioned.

 

They were ushered into Kurigu’s private box- a swanky-looking room with a bar, a vending machine, a mover screen, and a couple of plush seats. Best of all, it had a close-up view of the ring-

 

-which was  _ huge _ , and Korra was seriously amazed by the sheer size of the audience stands- it was like the Republic City pro-bending Arena if it had been built for an audience three times the size, and the seats themselves were  _ way  _ more comfortable looking.

 

The ring itself was pretty standard, though- a plain-looking, if impressively large platform with a mat on it. Around it was a deep pit, which had a lot of padding at the bottom, sort of like the water of the pro-bending arena, but hopefully dryer.

 

Over the pit were two bridges that led into rooms under the stands (Presumably where the prep rooms were). Otherwise, there was nothing special about it, and the mat itself didn’t have any space for bending materials- were Water and Earth benders expected to make do with what they could bring into the ring?

 

“Take a seat- there’s going to be another fight soon, and you’ll see what makes this ring so impressive.”

 

Korra nodded, and took a seat in one of the comfy-looking chairs. Kurigu sat down next to her, munching on some corn chips, and Raava hovered behind them.

 

While they waited for the match to start, a Mover screen started up and gave Korra some backstory on the fighters- some guy called Piandao, who she vaguely remembered had met Aang, and...the Equalist Lieutenant?

 

She blinked, remembering that that guy had been left paralyzed by Noatak’s bloodbending- and more so when she realized that Piandao had died over half a century ago.

 

“Time is an illusion,” Kurigu muttered, “Or at least, that’s the way mortals put it.”

 

Korra turned to her. “And how do Spirits put it?”

 

“Spirits say ‘Time? Never heard of it’.” Kurigu smirked, munching on another chip.

 

Korra groaned- as spiritually aware as she’d gotten, things like this would probably  _ never  _ make sense to her. She watched as the Mover screen outlined their abilities, and the rules and provisos for non-Benders; they were allowed to use whatever weapons they used on a daily basis, were entitled to use lethal force.

 

“What?!” Korra was shocked- Iroh had made this sound like a relaxed sparring arena, not some kind of underground blood sport.

 

“It’s an equalizer,” Kurigu whispered, “Non-benders can use their full abilities- but benders can’t.”

 

“But...killing people?!” Korra turned to face Raava. “Are you sure she isn’t with Vaatu?”

 

“Nobody actually dies here, Korra,” Raava soothed, “It’s all illusory- that will be clear soon.”

 

Korra took in the words, and focused on the Mover screen, which finished off listing the strengths and weaknesses of each fighter- also noting that they would apparently be fighting from the prime of their ability, meaning Piandao was going to be the young man who had single-handedly driven off a legion of Firebenders, while the Lieutenant...was a man that got beaten up so often Korra suspected he was a Cabbage Corp. product.

 

“You’re sure this is gonna be an interesting fight?” Korra said, incredulous.

 

“Oh, most assuredly.” Kurigu said. 

 

Korra rolled her eyes- but was drawn in amazement to the sight of the Arena as the match was about to start. She had been unimpressed with it at first, but realized now that, like time and pants, the Arena was an illusion, and was changing and shifting right before her eyes, becoming a massive sand-filled pit- and the Arena seats shifted to look like the benches in an Earth Kingdom Colosseum. 

 

The box they were in changed a bit too- the furnishings, bar, and chair were all the same, but its aesthetics changed to match that of the stone colosseums of the ancient past.

 

In the sand-filled pit that the ring had become, Korra could see the swordmaster Piandao- he was looking a lot younger and trimmer than he had been when he trained Sokka, and was armed with an impressive-looking sword with a black blade. 

 

The crowd began to roar as Piandao brandished his blade, going through his warmups while whetting the sword. He hadn’t been this showy when he met Sokka- maybe he used to be in a circus?

 

Also in the pit was someone else- not the Lieutenant, but a much more familiar face.

 

“Toph?!” She shouted out- Toph was here?

 

“Yes,” Kurigu grumbled, “Not fighting though- we had enough trouble with her the  _ last  _ match that I decided to put her on probation. Now she’s our referee, filling in for Sokka.”

 

“Oh.” Korra said quietly, a bit upset to learn that Toph, who loved fighting more than anything, was going to be so close to the matches but forbidden from participating.

 

Toph Bei Fong was looking about 50 years younger than she had been when Korra last saw her, and was wearing the black armor of the Republic City police- she was holding a microphone, and waving to the crowd, ushering them to quiet down.

 

“Welcome to Kurigu’s Den everyone!” Toph shouted, sounding excited, “I hope your ready for another round of action with warriors from throughout the ages and across the world!”

 

The crowd roared again, cheering and whooping- most of them were holding up signs, in support of Piandao, and a few were wearing Equalist masks and chanting the Lieutenant's name (“Lu Ten! Lu Ten! Lu Ten!”), with a few odd outliers like some people dressed up like Aang or like her, and at least one woman holding up a sign that said ‘Marry me Toph!’

 

“Alright!” Toph shouted, raising up a fist, “Tonight we got a rare treat- a legendary swordmaster from the Fire Nation, who trained the one, the only- Sokka, of the Water Tribe!”

 

Kurigu groaned at that, and muttered something under her breath. The crowd seemed to love it though, and, to Korra’s surprise, Raava was settling into the seat next to them now, obviously eager to see the show.

 

“And as his opponent, the infamous, terrifying,  _ mysterious _ \- Lieutenant of the Equalists!”

 

Korra groaned at that- the guy had gotten his butt kicked twice for every time the Cabbage Corp had one of its facilities blow up. It was hard to believe Toph could muster up the enthusiasm to hype him up-

 

-Just then, the crowd grew silent, as an ominous, mechanical sound started to get louder, and louder, and louder. Just as it got to its loudest point, the entrance opposite to Piandao exploded in a burst of rubble and dust- and through it came a mecha-tank, one twice as large as the ones Korra had remembered fighting.

 

“That’s right- we didn’t show you this on your movers so as not to spoil the  _ real  _ surprise we had for you tonight- the Lieutenant will  _ not  _ be fighting Master Piandao on the ground, as you might’ve expected, but behind the wheel of Future Industries’ most infamous product- the Mecha-tank, designed by Hiroshi Sato for the Equalists’ use, and since redesigned by his daughter, Asami Sato.”

 

Korra’s heart fluttered, getting distracted by the thought of Asami working on one of those things- deep into the night, in just a tank top and work pants, covered in sweat and grime, and still managing to enthusiastically describe the latest model she had been working on- this one would be bigger, that one would use titanium-

 

Korra blinked, realizing what this meant. The Lieutenant wouldn’t be fighting in one of the old mechs, made of soft platinum and running on an inefficient diesel engine, but Asami’s latest design, with titanium-alloy plating, and running on a powerful and enduring electric battery. 

 

Toph had been going on about the rules of the fight- lethal force was allowed, first to die or surrender won, and, offhandedly, that the Lieutenant also had all his Equalist combat gear inside the mech with him.

 

“Without further ado, let the match begin!” Toph shouted out, as the crowed roared so loud Korra could feel the place  _ shake _ , and the two warriors faced each other in the sand pit.

 

The Lieutenant moved first, opening up with a salvo of discs aimed at Piandao and the area around him- but the swordmaster wasn’t such an easy target, easily ducking and weaving around the discs, and cutting one of them in half. She briefly winced, thinking he was going to be electrocuted, but his hilt must’ve had some kind of insulation in it, because he didn’t even flinch as his blade crackled with electricity.

 

Undeterred, the Lieutenant fired a rocket-powered fist at Piandao- who not only dodged it, but offhandedly cut the cable that connected the fist to the mecha-tank, and charged straight towards his enemy.

 

Clearly a little panicked, the Equalist backed his tank away as fast as it could- and this was clearly playing into Piandao’s hands, as the tank bumped into the walls of the Arena.

 

Realizing his error, the Lieutenant rapidly tried to spin the mecha-tank around, but stalled, and, in a panic, uselessly fired more discs at Piandao.

 

The master once again dodged them, and sliced at the mech’s treads- easily slashing through the rubber. He then raised his sword to strike at the rear leg, Korra wincing, knowing it would fail-

 

-But as he brought the sword down it  _ tore  _ through the rear leg, and the mecha-tank started to slide down the wall, imbalanced and its operator in a panic. Korra realized that the earlier statement ‘Whatever weapons they used  _ daily _ ’, meant that the Lieutenant was stuck with the old Equalist mechs, the ones that were made out of soft, easily bent platinum.

 

The mecha-tank toppled over, finally, and its cockpit sprung open- the Lieutenant burst out, and, brandishing his electro-rods, charged at Piandao.

 

The swordmaster, a bit winded from all the earlier dodging, was slower than he had been before, and to Korra’s astonishment, fell for a feint the Lieutenant pulled off and flew past him in a failed stab. As he did so, the Equalist jabbed both of his electrically charged sticks right into Master Piandao’s back, sending blue lightning coursing through his body.

 

The Master howled in pain, and fell to the ground.

 

“And that’s it!” Toph shouted out on the microphone, as she walked up to the two fighters. Taking the Lieutenant’s hand, she held it up, and shouted “Our winner is- the Lieutenant!”

 

The crowd roared- far less boo-ing than Korra had expected, and to her surprise both Kurigu and even  _ Raava  _ were applauding (Though she had no idea  _ how  _ the latter pulled it off, given that she didn’t have any hands).

 

Korra shrugged, and applauded too- when this was all over, she figured the Lieutenant would go back to being a miserable man in a wheelchair in the Republic City penitentiary, while Piandao would go back to whatever time he came from and enjoy the rest of his amazing life, so they might as well humor the Equalist jerk by cheering for him.

 

“Well Korra,” Kurigu said, leaning in, “Was it worth the trip?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Korra said, with a crooked grin, “Definitely.”

 

“Then how’d you like to come on down to the ring- meet with the combatants.”

 

“Sure!” Korra got up, excited to meet with Piandao- and to a lesser extent, the Lieutenant.

 

Korra, Raava and Kurigu made their way down to the Arena, where Piandao was shaking hands with the Lieutenant.

 

“...fought excellently,” Korra heard Piandao say, “But I think you’d do well to practice your own abilities more, instead of relying on machines for strength.”

 

The Lieutenant chuckled. “Oh, I know,” he said, grinning, “I could’ve beaten you without the mecha-tank; that was just to lure you into complacency, to make you assume I wouldn’t know what to do without it.”

 

Piandao cocked his head at this, then laughed. “A clever ruse, I admit- and now that you mention it, I was completely blindsided by that show of skill you made. I’m not sure you would’ve beaten me all on your own, but still- you fought very well,”

 

The Lieutenant bowed his head. “It was an honor to fight with you.” He turned his head at the trio’s approach, “Well, look who’s here.”

 

“Hello, Lieutenant.” Korra said icily. “I see you’re up and about again.”

 

The masked man laughed bitterly. “Charming as ever, I see,” he pulled off his mask, to expose his surprisingly handsome face, “That’s how it is for everyone here- we’re brought to peak fighting prowess. So, in my case, I’m as I was before that charlatan bloodbent away my ability to walk.”

 

Korra nodded. “I can sympathize,” she winced, realizing that she was insulting someone who had to live with something even worse than what Zaheer did to her every day of his life- still, it’s not like he hadn’t brought it on himself.

 

“Avatar Korra,” Piandao said, bowing, “An honor to meet you- I assume you’re the current Avatar’s successor?”

 

Korra cocked her head. “Um, sure, if by ‘current Avatar’ you mean Aang.”

 

“Ah, yes, that was the boy’s name,” Piandao stroked his beard, “At any rate, I must be returning to my own place back in Ba Sing Se- the White Lotus has need of me.”

 

He walked off, and the Lieutenant followed suit, both of them going in opposite directions. Kurigu then walked over to Korra, and leaned down to her.

 

“Now that you’ve seen a fight- how about participating in one?”

 

Korra pondered it for a bit- she still was wary about getting into another sparring match, given her past experience with them, but still, this could be interesting- and if nothing else, she had nothing  _ better  _ to do.

 

“Yeah, I’d love to.” She answered, confidently.

 

“Good,” Kurigu said, grinning, “Let me introduce you to your first opponent.”

 

Korra heard the sound of footsteps from the other entrance- and turned her head towards it to see a woman around Korra’s age. in Southern Water Tribe clothes, with a Northern Water Tribe betrothal necklace around her neck and a very distinctive set of hair loops.

  
“Hello, Korra.” Katara said, smiling. 


	3. Korra Vs. Katara, Prelude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra learns the nature of her fight with Katara- then returns home to receive an unexpected letter from someone she's sorely missed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much shorter than normal- and apologies, I meant to publish this before. It's here now though- not the fight itself, but something else everyone's been asking me for.

Korra gaped. “But...but you’re?” It was  _ surreal _ \- sure, she’d seen Katara when she was younger through Aang’s memories, but truthfully those had always felt rather distant, compared to the very tangible sight of the old woman that she’d known since she was a little girl.

 

“Young?” Katara said, smiling coyly at her one-time pupil, as she strolled casually toward her. 

 

“Well, yeah.” There was another word that came to mind, as the young, fit woman that had been her wife in a past life, but she was trying not to think about that.

 

Katara laughed. “I know- it’s a nice incentive, I think,” she turned to Kurigu, “Although I would appreciate just once being able to be here as myself- I think I’m making things awkward for poor Korra.”

 

“I can change you back,” Kurigu said, shrugging, “But I don’t see how you could be making anything awkward for Korra.”

 

Katara sighed. “Alright, fine, be that way,” she turned to Korra, and smiled more sincerely at her, “It’s good to see you again, dear.”

 

The Avatar was still a bit uncomfortable with the sight of her old teacher like this, but composed herself all the same. “It’s good to see you too, Katara.”

 

“Obviously I don’t need to reintroduce you to one another,” Kurigu said blandly, “But I do think Korra needs to be aware of a few things before you two fight.”

 

“Right, the rules,” Katara said, before clearing her throat, “Alright- Korra, what you need to know is that there are some rules to matches here in the Arena. You’re familiar with the rule against Benders using lethal force?”

 

Korra shook her head. “No, I don’t think so- I take it non-Benders being allowed to use it is a way of making things more even?”

 

Katara nodded. “Exactly- and that rule applies even when Benders are fighting each other, to keep fights from ending too quickly.”

 

“Also,” Kurigu added, “Because some Benders are more willing than others to employ lethal force; even in an illusion, an Air Nomad cannot bring themself to suck the air out of their enemy’s lungs, unlike a soldier of the Empire of Chin, who has no such compunctions.”

 

“Okay,” Korra said, “So what other rules are there?”

 

“Well,” Kurigu said, stepping forward, “I tend to change the rules for the fight- but one I use for any fight involving an Avatar is a restriction to their native element.”

 

“Wait what?” Korra shouted, shocked. “But, I’m not…”

 

“Nearly as good a Waterbender as Katara?” Kurigu shrugged. “Too bad- you’re the Avatar, you’re too used to having the advantage.”

 

The Avatar’s jaw dropped at that. “Argh!” She roared, unable to form meaningful words.

 

“The match is tomorrow,” the Spirit said calmly, walking off, “Come back here at sundown.”

 

Korra was about to speak, but felt a calming sensation on her shoulder. “Do not worry, Korra,” Raava said soothingly, “You know that no-one will think less of you if you should lose- why not relax, and enjoy it?”

 

She relaxed, and turned to face the Spirit of Light. “You’re right, Raava,” Korra smiled at her, “Let’s go home.”

  
  


After a bit of trouble finding directions (And more than a little help from Iroh in finding the way back), Korra returned to Asami’s house in Republic City.

 

She had just knocked on the door when, bounding out of the home, came a certain black-haired green-eyed beauty.

 

“ASAMI!” Korra screamed in joy, running towards her girlfriend and embracing her, before kissing her passionately.

 

Asami sighed softly, returning the kiss. The two of them were there for probably a minute or so before Korra finally closed the door behind them. Then, picking Asami up bridal-style, walked her over to their bedroom, kissing her on-and-off the whole time.

 

“Korra,” Asami said, giggling in between kisses, “Korra- I have something to talk to you about, silly”

“Mmmm,” Korra murmured, kissing Asami on her perfect lips, “Yeah? What’s up?”

 

“I got this letter!” Asami said, happily pulling out a familiar looking envelope. “Apparently Mako, Wu, and Bolin did too!”

 

Korra’s jaw dropped. “Lemme see that.”

 

She nearly collapsed from the words on it:  _ Avatar Korra vs. Katara: Waterbending Spectacular, only at Kurigu’s Den.  _

 

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. I'm working on an epic Star Wars fic right now, called "Star Wars Crusade". It's set in an unexplored period of the Old Republic, and heavily involves characters from both Knights of the Old Republic games and The Old Republic. I'm working really hard on it, and it's very important to me- so I'd really appreciate you checking that out.
> 
> As always, Kudos are appreciated, Comments, even more so.


End file.
